<p> In education, much emphasis is placed on academic achievement without fully understanding the role counseling programs can have to ensure all students are learning at high levels and are college and career ready. The staff of Midwest School District believes that guidance and counseling is an integral part of each school&rsquo;s total education program. As a commitment to this belief, the district developed a program evaluation plan to both consistently and effectively evaluate district programs. An essential component of a school counseling program&rsquo;s accountability is to provide evidence that what school counselors do makes a measurable difference in the lives of students, particularly academic achievement and school success. The purpose of Midwest&rsquo;s guidance and counseling evaluation was to examine the current reality and establish expectations related to programming and design, K-12 alignment of services, and best meet student needs. The district program follows the Missouri Comprehensive Model Guidance Program (MCMGP) and addresses the academic, personal/social, and career planning of every Midwest student. At the end of the program evaluation, the school district and other educators will have an assessment of the professional school counselors, college and career specialist and school social workers as well as considerations for improvements and a perspective on the service delivery models employed by the district to address the needs of K-12 students.</p>

<p> For school counseling candidates, the culmination of the pathway to state certification and/or licensure lies in a passing score on a standardized test. Within the state of Missouri, this test is the <i>Praxis II</i>. Within the state of Missouri, an achievement gap on the pass rates of the <i> Praxis II</i> existed between Caucasian and African American students. Participants in this study, both male and female, attended a Midwestern, private university and spanned a wide range of ages, all older than 20 years. The participant population included African American and Caucasian students. This dissertation sought to explore potential contributors to the gap in passing scores on the <i>Praxis II</i>. Using a quantitative approach, the researcher investigated the relationship among students&rsquo; perceptions regarding control over academic outcomes (locus of control) in relation to study preparation, <i>Praxis II</i> test results, and a variety of variables. The results from this study indicated that there were not significant relationships amongst locus of control, planned study preparation, actual study preparation, and <i>Praxis II</i> scores. Two variables, age and ethnicity, were identified as predictors of <i>Praxis II</i> scores. The research proposed implications for school counseling programs, as well as faculty within those programs to develop learner-centered approaches to teaching, including Universal Design for Learning and inclusive teaching. </p><p>

Recent work has shown that many state supported school counseling programs have not developed working statewide program evaluation schemas. This study examined two exemplary examples of state level program evaluation. Mixed-method case studies were created and then analyzed across cases to reveal common themes and best practices. The findings indicated that these cases were able to build statewide evaluation capacity within very different contexts.

This ethnographic study of a local program for at-risk adolescents within the Boston Public Schools analyzed interviews of 23 students and 7 staff and field-based data. Major cultural thematic classifications depicted three developmental dimensions: time related to school, out of school, and beyond school; success defined as socio-expressive, instrumental, self-reflexive, and vicarious; and rapport of staff, students, and the educational institution. Despite being "overage" with an average of 2.3 years behind grade level, twenty-two of the respondents (96%) expressed a strong commitment to obtain a high school diploma. Seventeen (87%) had very specific future goals. A majority believed that positive rapport with the school staff motivated them to achieve. A "family-style" culture among the students inculcated school "success" values. This alternative program promoted an outcome-based learning system and language-arts-across-the-curriculum as an accelerated approach. In addition, this program emphasized small class sizes, a "team" management of administrative tasks, common planning and meeting times for staff, collaborations with outside community resources, and close home-school communication.

This research project endeavored to assess the effectiveness of a new model of group intervention in initiating a peer self-help support group among high risk community college students. It additionally investigated the correlation between participation in the support group and academic performance (as demonstrated both by course completion rate and quality point average), retention, (as indicated by continuation at the college), self concept (as measured on the Tennessee Self Concept Scale), and focus of support seeking behavior (school or non-school focused). High risk students were identified on the basis of non-satisfactory academic performance during the Spring Semester 1980. Participants in the research were actively recruited during the following summer months. Through a convoluted process dependent upon volunteers a final N of 28 was achieved. Difficulties in scheduling group members brought about a loss in randomnization and subsequent expansion of the project to be both quantitative and qualitative (inclusive of a group case study chapter). The project sought to utilize the growing body of information arising from self-help groups, peer counseling models and group psychotherapy to bring about personal change which would enable members to focus more clearly upon their academic goals and the academic milieu. An extensive review of the literature became the foundation of the Students Helping Students Succeed model. The model intervention initially was structured and leader focused and later was unstructured and group focused. A basic format was instituted involving five major components, (1) success recognition, (2) support reporting, (3) didactic instruction, (4) sharing and solving individual concerns, and (5) goal setting. The statistical and case study data generated found no general correlation between participation and improved academic performance, or increased retention. However, among students with adequate reading skills significant improvement did occur. Findings concerning self concept levels found significant improvement on six of the eight subscales studied. Members' self concepts scores showed a marked improvement on scales measuring personal identity, self-satisfaction, and personal behavior as well as perception of moral-ethical self, personal self and family self. Additionally, the global self concept score also increased notably. Though not backed by statistical data, the amount of support activity focused on the college community increased through the course of the group intervention and is observed in Chapter V. Additionally, the direction of support activity changed significantly. Members experienced a significant increase in the amount of support they received from others as the group proceeded. The project was successful in the initiation of a peer self-help support group which positively impacted self concept and support activity of experimental group members. It further succeeded in improving the academic performance of members with adequate basic skills. Additional research in the field of self-help support systems with high risk students is strongly encouraged.

<p> Relational aggression acted out through social media or cyber bullying is an ever-growing limitedly researched issue that is impacting students and parents alike. A mixed-method study was conducted using existing older and aspiring younger social workers and counselors to investigate attitudes (focus groups and text box comments) and relationships (surveys) between variables. The research questions asked how attitudes toward cyber bullying based on gender, type of social media, parent versus nonparent status, and involved parent versus not involved parent status. Hypotheses tested correlations between the same elements.</p><p> Participants were 75 existing social workers and counselors working at a Midwestern school district, and 137 aspiring social workers and counselors enrolled in a Midwestern university undergraduate social worker program and a graduate counselor program. The participant age varied&mdash;the youngest group was the undergraduate social worker students and graduate counseling students the oldest group was the existing social workers and counselors. Gender varied, but the majority of participants were female.</p><p> All participants were surveyed with an instrument designed to measure attitude that included three scenarios of relational aggression. Among those surveyed, some also participated in a video recorded focus group to measure attitude. Survey results were analyzed using <i>t</i> tests and <i> F</i> tests that found minimal significance between participant responses. Focus group results were first analyzed using axial coding for three key elements: parent involvement, relational aggression, and social media, and found that by far, the majority of responses aligned with the element, parent involvement. Next, open coding of just the parent involvement responses resulted in the following emerging themes: general parent involvement, parent monitoring, parent involvement as a resolution, parent involvement as a prevention, and parental advisement.</p><p> There was more female representation that took the survey than males. Lack of familiarity with social media websites made it difficult for honest responses and if they were used to cyber bully. Most respondents felt parent involvement is important in preventing cyber bullying despite parental status. Involved parental monitoring of their child&rsquo;s social media are aware of their online behavior. Cyber bullying is a prevalent topic that provided strong reactions from all data sets.</p>

<p> Utilizing twelve case studies, this project hypothesized that participants from diverse contexts would develop the ability to understand the correct meaning of their dreams, without mediation, as modeled by the researcher. The researcher and an observer interpreted participant's dreams during six meetings, using biblical symbolism and relying upon inspiration from the Holy Spirit. Many participants perceived the meaning of their dreams following the exercise of Christian dream interpretation. The observers verified that many of the participant dream interpretations resonated with Scripture and the person of the Holy Spirit. Participants received guidance, encouragement, and healing, and expressed significantly increased interpretive acumen.</p>

<p> The purpose of this proposal was to identify the need and write a grant to fund a mental health school based program for adolescents that have a variety of mental health concerns using cognitive behavior therapy techniques. The sponsoring school for the grant proposal was Gladstone High School in Azusa, California. If funded, the school will be able to implement provide mental health services specifically to the students of Gladstone High School. This program that consists of a licensed clinical social worker and 3 master of social work interns will help assess mental health needs of students, provide cognitive behavioral interventions in individual counseling sessions, psychoeducation groups for students, mental health trainings for students, teachers, and families, and meeting with students/families to track their progress.</p>

<p> This qualitative exploration in the form of multiple case studies interviewed a group of seven social workers from the St. Louis Metropolitan area to gain their perception as school social workers concerning their roles in public schools. The literature on school social workers indicated that school social workers brought unique knowledge and skills to the school system and the student services team. School social workers were instrumental in furthering the vision of the schools to help provide an improved setting and environment for teaching and learning. </p><p> This study conducted case studies of the social worker in the professional environment to document the types of activities conducted in the workplace and perceptions of the social workers regarding their place in the school setting. </p><p> To gather the qualitative data necessary to answer the research questions, participants provided responses to a survey, kept a log of activities, and participated in interviews. Qualitative data was coded for indicators of the role of social workers and their best strategies, on the job. Five major themes emerged from the study. The first of these was Monitoring Attendance and Tardy Issues. This role took much of the time during the day for social workers regardless of setting. </p><p> Home Visits to Assess Family Needs was the second most common job duty of the participants. Connecting Families to Resources did not take as much time, however was regarded by the social workers as the most important. Individual and Group Counseling was a common tool for trying to improve student behavior or coping skills. This was not a frequently used as the social workers desired. Crisis Intervention occurred on an as needed basis and required the use of the skills learned in their college training. The other major conclusion was in the difference between the single site and travelling school social workers. All of the travelling social workers thought they would be more effective if they were in only one school full time. Overall, the participants reported that they loved their job in spite of the challenges they faced.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the internal and external influences on help-seeking behavior in Latino male high school students (n=22) who were academically at-risk. Participants were asked to describe how and why they sought assistance from school counselors for academic and personal concerns. The data were analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. The findings indicated various cultural and societal factors (gender roles, masculinity/machismo, face, and teachers of masculinity) that negatively influence help-seeking habits, while internal factors (positive internal strength, perceived knowledge and competence, and trusting relationships) were identified as positive influencers. These influencers related to one another and their relationship is drawn out in a model that described the experience of participants. Recommendations for future research and practice are provided for scholars and school personnel who work with this population.</p>